Deadline To Run For Congress, State House, State Senate Approaches

Tuesday is the last day for candidates to file for election in Kentucky. Offices on the ballot this year include all 100 seats in the state House of Representatives, half of the 38 seats in the state Senate, as well as all six of Kentucky’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Monday, more than 30 current elected officials and hopefuls filed paperwork with Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ office. A crush of candidates is expected to file shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday — the official deadline.

Matt Wyatt is the chairman of the Elizabethtown School Board and filed to run as a Democrat in House District 25. He said he decided to run because of the Republican-led legislature’s passage of a charter schools bill last year.

“It’s our job right now as candidates to go out there and tell our story about why Frankfort is running against us,” Wyatt said.

After 2016 elections, Republicans gained control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in nearly a century.

Though numbers will likely change by the filing deadline, there were 27 districts in the state House of Representatives that had one candidate with no opponent as of Monday afternoon.

With 17 current representatives not running for re-election, 46 candidates so far have filed to run in House districts that don’t have an incumbent running.

Republicans currently have 62 seats in the House while Democrats have 36. There are currently two vacant seats that will be filled during special elections in February.

Meanwhile in the state Senate, four current senators are running for re-election unopposed. Republicans have 27 seats in the chamber while Democrats have 11.

All six members of Kentucky’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives will have challengers this year.

In this week’s episode of Kentucky Politics Distilled, a school shooting at Marshall County High School sparks debate in Frankfort over whether and how state government can try to prevent gun violence.

On Tuesday morning, a student opened fire on his classmates, killing two teenagers and injuring more than a dozen others. The incident has drawn sympathy from across the country and around the world.

And on the lighter side, what do purple cows have to do with the fractured politics of the Kentucky House of Representatives? Listen to this week’s wrap up with capitol reporter Ryland Barton.

Leaders of Kentucky’s two largest universities warned lawmakers Thursday that Gov. Bevin’s proposed spending cuts would eliminate crucial programs and scholarships that benefit Kentuckians and attract businesses to the state.